Anonymous Lab Survey - Public **IMPORTANT** PLEASE COPY THIS SURVEY TO YOUR GOOGLE DRIVE BEFORE YOU USE IT - SEE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW
This is an anonymous survey to capture candid feedback on the climate, organization, and science in a scientific laboratory. It is meant to be distributed to all members of the laboratory, including permanent staff, students, postdocs, interns, summer students, and technicians. Not all questions will apply to all participants. The goal is to identify issues in the lab that the lab head can work with members to address to improve lab culture. All answers are anonymous and will be aggregated to form a basis for frank discussions about addressing issues.

HOW TO USE THIS SURVEY
1- Follow link below to make a copy of this survey so that it lives on your Google Drive with YOU as the owner:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LZ7zEf-M5u79Uqih46rhKF9plmjlF7nNCO82Wmo25M8/copy
2- Edit your copy of the survey to customize it for your lab
3- Send the link to everyone in your lab, including students, postdocs, and permanent staff
4- To keep the survey anonymous, do NOT collect email addresses of respondents, and do not let respondents see the results (check the settings to unclick the relevant boxes)
5- Collect the answers, aggregate them anonymously, and share the survey results with the lab. Unless there is something very sensitive that should not be shared, do not redact or edit the answers before sharing with the lab.
6- You can make a "word cloud" of the first required question to get a picture of what people think of the lab. There are a number of free Word Cloud generators out on the web
7- Schedule a meeting to have a frank discussion about the lab climate, its strengths and weaknesses
8-Remember that lab members trust you to treat all of the results as anonymous, aggregated information and that you will at no point attempt to attribute any comments to a particular lab member.
9-You will get some tough feedback and discover problems that you never knew existed. I guarantee that by going through this process and making a good faith effort to address the issues, you will make your lab a happier and more productive place.

Good luck and let me know if you have any problems with the survey.
Leslie Vosshall
HHMI-The Rockefeller University
leslie@rockefeller.edu
September 2019
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What 3 words would you use to describe our lab culture? *
What do you like most about working here?
What do you like least about working here?
How happy are you in the lab?
unhappy
bliss
Clear selection
Is there something that could be provided to make you happier?
What is your impression of social life in the lab? Too social, not enough, or just right? If you want to improve the social life in the lab, what are your suggestions for achieving this?
How comfortable do you feel sharing personal concerns (housing, financial, family, physical or mental health) with me?
Not comfortable
Very comfortable
Clear selection
Do you feel explicit or implicit pressure to work more hours than you feel is healthy?
Very pressured
Not pressured
Clear selection
Do you feel explicit or implicit pressure to avoid taking vacations?
Very pressured
Not pressured
Clear selection
How well does the lab communicate as a whole?
Poorly
Perfect
Clear selection
What are some ways that we could improve communication in the lab?
Do you feel that lab rules/policies are clear? Are there unspoken rules or policies that you feel should be more clearly communicated?
Are there policies you feel should be explicitly written? If so, please explain which ones.
Do you feel that the same rules apply to everyone in lab? If not, please explain.
Do you feel empowered to make suggestions to me to improve the lab culture/ organization?
Clear selection
Do you feel empowered to make suggestions to your colleagues to improve the lab culture/ organization?
Clear selection
If you do not feel empowered to make suggestions to your colleagues in the lab or to me to improve the lab culture/ organization, please tell me more about this.
Do you feel you have enough feedback on your project?
Inadequate
Perfect
Clear selection
Do you feel you have enough time to meet with me?
Inadequate
Perfect
Clear selection
How useful do you find one-on-one meetings with me?
Useless
Perfect
Clear selection
Is there something that could make these meetings more useful or productive?
Do you think the current system of formal scheduled<**CHANGE THIS ACCORDING TO YOUR NEEDS**MONTHLY/WEEKLY/DAILY> one-on-one meetings is working?  Should these be less frequent, more frequent, or stay as is?
Do you think you would benefit from more formal feedback on your progress?
How supported do you feel by me, and do you think that you are getting the mentoring, career advice, and general guidance to succeed?
Poorly
Perfect
Clear selection
Do you want formal training in giving talks?
Clear selection
Do you want to have an Annual Mentoring Meeting to go over your Individual Development Plan and discuss post-PhD or post-Postdoc plans?
Clear selection
What kind of advice or information would be useful to discuss at such an Annual Mentoring Meeting?
Do you have any explicit feedback on how I can improve my mentoring style?
Do you feel it is easy to get information from me?
Difficult
Easy
Clear selection
Do you feel it is easy to get information from other people in the lab?
Difficult
Easy
Clear selection
How useful do you find lab meetings?
Useless
Perfect
Clear selection
Is there something that could make lab meetings more useful or productive?
How useful do you find sub-group meetings?
Useless
Perfect
Clear selection
Is there something that could make sub-group meetings more useful or productive?
How useful do you find the journal club?
Useless
Perfect
Clear selection
Is there something that could make the journal club more useful or productive?
How much freedom do you feel you have to decide how you do your work?
Constrained
Completely free
Clear selection
How collaborative do you think the lab is?
Not at all
Extremely
Clear selection
Do you perceive that there is any favoritism in the lab? Please elaborate.
Are there any issues with collaborations in the lab that are not working? Please explain.
Are you aware of the lab's authorship policies?
Clear selection
Do have any concerns about anticipated authorship on papers describing your work or collaborations that you are involved with?
Please rate whether you feel the lab provides you with the tools and technologies you need?
Inadequate
Perfect
Clear selection
Do you feel you have received proper training to perform the techniques required for your work?
Is there further training you would like to receive to help you accomplish your goals?
How easy is it easy to locate things in the lab?
Impossible
Perfect
Clear selection
How often do you encounter issues that could have been averted if things were better organized?  E.g. reagent missing, equipment broken.
Clear selection
Please tell me more about the kinds of organizational issues you have encountered and any suggestions to improve such issues.
What is your opinion of the level of technical support in the laboratory?
Inadequate
Perfect
Clear selection
What is your opinion of the level of administrative support in the laboratory?
Inadequate
Perfect
Clear selection
What is your impression of the funding of the laboratory?
Inadequate
Perfect
Clear selection
If we had the funds to hire one more full-time person, what kind of person should we hire and what role would they play in the lab?
Is there something that you experienced in a previous lab(s) that you wish we also did here?
Are there any concerns or other areas of the lab you believe could be improved that have not been addressed in previous questions?  Please list any other areas you think could be improved or should be addressed.
Finally, did you find this survey useful? If yes, how often should the survey be conducted?
Submit
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